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Nihon Shoki

{{Short description|8th century book of classical Japanese history}}

{{distinguish|Nihon-shiki|Shoku Nihongi}}

{{italic title}}

File:Nihonshoki tanaka version.jpg (c. 9th century)]]

{{Shintoism}}

The {{nihongo|Nihon Shoki|日本書紀}} or {{Nihongo|Nihongi|日本紀}}, sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan. The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} was finished in 720 under the editorial supervision of Prince Toneri with the assistance of Ō no Yasumaro and presented to Empress Genshō.{{Citation | title = Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697 | author-link = William George Aston | first = William George | last = Aston | page = xv | chapter = Introduction | publisher = Tuttle Publishing | edition = Tra | date = July 2005 | orig-year = 1972 | isbn = 978-0-8048-3674-6}}, from the original Chinese and Japanese. The book is also a reflection of Chinese influence on Japanese civilization.{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nihon-shoki | title=Nihon shoki | Mythology, Creation & History | Britannica }} In Japan, the Sinicized court wanted written history that could be compared with the annals of the Chinese.{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nihon-shoki | title=Nihon shoki | Mythology, Creation & History | Britannica }}

The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} begins with the Japanese creation myth, explaining the origin of the world and the first seven generations of divine beings (starting with Kuninotokotachi), and goes on with a number of myths as does the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, but continues its account through to events of the 8th century. It is believed to record accurately the latter reigns of Emperor Tenji, Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} focuses on the merits of the virtuous rulers as well as the errors of the bad rulers. It describes episodes from mythological eras and diplomatic contacts with other countries. The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} was written in classical Chinese, as was common for official documents at that time. The {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, on the other hand, is written in a combination of Chinese and phonetic transcription of Japanese (primarily for names and songs). The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} also contains numerous transliteration notes telling the reader how words were pronounced in Japanese. Collectively, the stories in this book and the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} are referred to as the Kiki stories.{{Citation | url = http://www.equinoxpub.com/books/showbook.asp?bkid=184 | title = Equinox Pub}}.

The tale of Urashima Tarō is developed from the brief mention in {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} (Emperor Yūryaku Year 22) that a certain child of Urashima visited Horaisan and saw wonders. The later tale has plainly incorporated elements from the famous anecdote of "Luck of the Sea and Luck of the Mountains" (Hoderi and Hoori) found in {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}. The later developed Urashima tale contains the Rip Van Winkle motif, so some may consider it an early example of fictional time travel.{{citation|title=Malchronia: Cryonics and Bionics as Primitive Weapons in the War on Time|first=Christopher|last=Yorke|journal=Journal of Evolution and Technology|volume=15|issue=1|date=February 2006|pages=73–85|url=http://jetpress.org/volume15/yorke-rowe.html|access-date=2009-08-29|archive-date=2006-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516005834/http://www.jetpress.org/volume15/yorke-rowe.html|url-status=dead}}

The first translation was completed by William George Aston in 1896 (English).Yasumaro no O.Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697.William George Aston.London.Transactions and proceedings of the Japan Society.2006

Chapters

File:Nihon Shoki 15 April 683.jpg 12th year), when an edict was issued mandating the use of copper coins rather than silver coins, an early mention of Japanese currency. Excerpt of the 11th century edition.]]

Process of compilation

= Background =

The background of the compilation of the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} is that Emperor Tenmu ordered 12 people, including Prince Kawashima, to edit the old history of the empire.日本の歴史4 天平の時代 p.39, Shueisha, Towao Sakehara

Shoku Nihongi notes that "{{lang|ja-Hani|先是一品舍人親王奉勅修日本紀。至是功成奏上。紀卅卷系圖一卷}}" in the part of May 720. It means "Up to that time, Prince Toneri had been compiling Nihongi on the orders of the emperor; he completed it, submitting 30 volumes of history and one volume of genealogy".{{cite book |editor=Keizai Zasshisha |editor-link=:ja:経済雑誌社 |title=Shoku Nihongi |script-title=ja:続日本紀 |series=National History |language=ja |volume=2 |date=1897 |publication-place=Tokyo |publisher=Keizai Zasshisha |url={{NDLDC|991092|/1/187|format=url}} |page=362 |via=National Diet Library |doi=10.11501/991092 |id={{NDLPID|991092}} |author1=経済雑誌社 }}

=Sources=

The {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} is a synthesis of older documents, specifically on the records that had been continuously kept in the Yamato court since the sixth century. It also includes documents and folklore submitted by clans serving the court. Prior to {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}, there were Tennōki and Kokki compiled by Prince Shōtoku and Soga no Umako, but as they were stored in Soga's residence, they were burned at the time of the Isshi Incident in July 645.

The work's contributors refer to various sources which do not exist today. Among those sources, three Baekje documents (Kudara-ki, etc.) are cited mainly for the purpose of recording diplomatic affairs.[https://books.google.com/books?id=7jDuhnI6r9UC&q=paekche+nihon&pg=PA40 Sakamoto, Tarō. (1991). The Six National Histories of Japan: Rikkokushi, John S. Brownlee, tr.] pp. 40–41; [https://books.google.com/books?id=x5mwgfPXK1kC&dq=paekche+nihon+shoki&pg=PA170 Inoue Mitsusada. (1999). "The Century of Reform" in The Cambridge History of Japan, Delmer Brown, ed. Vol. I], p.170. Textual criticism shows that scholars fleeing the destruction of the Baekje to Yamato wrote these histories and the authors of the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} heavily relied upon those sources.Sakamoto, pp. 40–41. This must be taken into account in relation to statements referring to old historic rivalries between the ancient Korean kingdoms of Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje.

Some other sources are cited anonymously as aru fumi ({{lang|ja-Hani|一書}}; "some document"), in order to keep alternative records for specific incidents.

Exaggeration of reign lengths

Most scholars agree that the purported founding date of Japan (660 BCE) and the earliest emperors of Japan are mythical.[https://books.google.com/books?id=wrc6rzKkbgcC&dq=Kigensetsu&pg=PA555 Rimmer, Thomas et al. (2005). The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature], p. 555 n1.{{failed verification|sate=February 2015|date=February 2015}} This does not necessarily imply that the persons referred to did not exist, merely that there is insufficient material available for further verification and study.Kelly, Charles F. [http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/kofun.html "Kofun Culture,"] [http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/index.htm Japanese Archaeology.] April 27, 2009. Dates in the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} before the late 7th century were likely recorded using the Genka calendar system.Barnes, Gina Lee. (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=GLAo-bLJw4EC&dq=genka+reki&pg=PA226 State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite, p. 226 n.5].

For those monarchs, and also for the Emperors Ōjin and Nintoku, the lengths of reign are likely to have been exaggerated in order to make the origins of the imperial family sufficiently ancient to satisfy numerological expectations. It is widely believed that the epoch of 660 BCE was chosen because it is a "xīn-yǒu" year in the sexagenary cycle, which according to Taoist beliefs was an appropriate year for a revolution to take place. As Taoist theory also groups together 21 sexagenary cycles into one unit of time, it is assumed that the compilers of {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} assigned the year 601 (a "xīn-yǒu" year in which Prince Shotoku's reformation took place) as a "modern revolution" year, and consequently recorded 660 BCE, 1260 years prior to that year, as the founding epoch.

=''Kesshi Hachidai''=

For the eight emperors of Chapter 4, only the years of birth and reign, year of naming as Crown Prince, names of consorts, and locations of tomb are recorded. They are called the Kesshi Hachidai ("{{lang|ja-Hani|欠史八代}}, "eight generations lacking history") because no legends (or a few, as quoted in Nihon Ōdai Ichiran{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}) are associated with them. Some{{which|date=February 2015}} studies support the view that these emperors were invented to push Jimmu's reign further back to the year 660 BCE. {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} itself somewhat elevates the "tenth" emperor Sujin, recording that he was called the Hatsu-Kuni-Shirasu ("{{lang|ja-Hani|御肇国}}: first nation-ruling) emperor.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oEfAAAAYAAJ |title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |date=1896 |publisher=Society |isbn=978-0-524-05347-8 |language=en}}

Influences

The tale of Urashima Tarō is developed from the brief mention in {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} (Emperor Yūryaku Year 22) that a certain child of Urashima visited Horaisan and saw wonders. The later tale has plainly incorporated elements from the famous anecdote of "Luck of the Sea and Luck of the Mountains" (Hoderi and Hoori) found in {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}}. The later developed Urashima tale contains the Rip Van Winkle motif, so some may consider it an early example of fictional time travel.{{citation |last=Yorke |first=Christopher |title=Malchronia: Cryonics and Bionics as Primitive Weapons in the War on Time |date=February 2006 |url=http://jetpress.org/volume15/yorke-rowe.html |journal=Journal of Evolution and Technology |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=73–85 |access-date=2009-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516005834/http://www.jetpress.org/volume15/yorke-rowe.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-05-16}}

Editions

=English translations=

  • {{cite book|last=Aston |first=William George |authorlink=William George Aston |title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |year=1896 |location=London |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. |oclc=9486539}} [https://archive.org/details/nihongi1asto/mode/2up vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/nihongi2asto/mode/2up vol. 2]

=Manuscripts=

=Prints=

  • [https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/ri05/ri05_01940/index.html Nihongi volume 1-30] Publication date unknown. Preface dated Keichō 15 (1610). Waseda University Library collection
  • [https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/ri05/ri05_00406/index.html Nihon Shoki volume 1-2] Publication date unknown. Waseda University Library collection

=Typed prints=

  • {{cite book |title=Nihon Shoki |editor=Keiza zasshisha (経済雑誌社) |publisher=Keiza zasshisha (経済雑誌社) |year=1907 |location=Tokyo, Japan |language=ja |series=Kokushi taikei (國史大系) |volume=1 |script-title=ja:日本書紀 |doi=10.11501/991091 |oclc=21967145 |id={{NDLPID|991091}} |author1=経済雑誌社 }}
  • {{cite book |title=Nihon Shoki vol.1 |publisher=Asahi Shimbun Company |editor-last=Saeki |editor-first=Ariyoshi |origyear=1928 |year=1940 |location=Tokyo, Japan |language=ja |series=Rikkokushi (六國史) |edition=増補版 |volume=1 |script-title=ja:日本書紀 上巻 |doi=10.11501/1172831 |oclc=22150362 |id={{NDLPID|1172831}} |author1=佐伯, 有義, 1867-1945 }}; [{{NDLDC|1172847}} vol.2]

=Modern Japanese translations=

  • {{cite book |last=Ujiya (宇治谷) |first=Tsutomu (孟) |title=Nihon shoki (日本書紀) |volume=上 |publisher=Kodansha |year=1988 |isbn=4-06-158833-8}}; Vol.下:{{isbn|4-06-158834-6}}

See also

References

{{reflist|2}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book|translator-last1=Brownlee|translator-first1=John S. |last1=Sakamoto|first1=Tarō|year=1991|title=The Six National Histories of Japan: Rikkokushi|place=Vancouver|publisher=University of British Columbia Press|isbn=978-0-7748-0379-3}}
  • Brownlee, John S. (1991). Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712). Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. {{ISBN|0-88920-997-9}}
  • Brownlee, John S. (1997) Japanese historians and the national myths, 1600–1945: The Age of the Gods and Emperor Jimmu. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. {{ISBN|0-7748-0644-3}} Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. {{ISBN|4-13-027031-1}}

External links

{{wikisource|Nihon Shoki|Nihon Shoki}}

{{Wikisourcelang|zh|日本書紀}}

{{commonscat}}

=Nihongi / Nihon Shoki texts=

  • Based on Aston's translation:
  • {{cite wikisource |title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697}} Searchable version of Aston's translation
  • {{cite web|url=https://jhti.berkeley.edu/Nihon%20shoki.html|title=Nihon Shoki|author=JHTI|work=Japanese Historical Text Initiative|publisher=UC Berkeley|access-date=25 April 2018}}: kanbun text vs. English translation (Aston's 1896 edition) in blocks. Search mode and browse mode. Images are from a 1785 printed edition.
  • Excerpts at sacred-texts.com: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/nihon0.htm The Nihongi Part 1], [https://sacred-texts.com/shi/nihon1.htm Part 2], [https://sacred-texts.com/shi/nihon2.htm Part 3], [https://sacred-texts.com/shi/nihon3.htm Part 4]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20200812063916/http://nihonshoki.wikidot.com/start The Nihon Shoki Wiki] Online English translations by Matthieu Felt
  • {{in lang|ja}} {{Cite web |url=http://www.kikuchi2.com/jodai/shokiall.html |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=菊池眞一研究室 (Shinichi Kikuchi laboratory) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211030314/http://www.kikuchi2.com/jodai/shokiall.html |archive-date=2023-12-11 |url-status=live |language=ja |script-title=ja:『日本書紀』国史大系版 |trans-title=Nihon Shoki – Kokushi Taikei edition |trans-quote=Based on The Revised Enhanced Kokushi Taikei edition, redacted with other editions}}
  • {{in lang|ja}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20050903011203/http://kodaishi-db.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} Text (六国史全文)] Downloadable lzh compressed file

=Others=

  • {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Nihongi|year=1905 |short=x}}

{{Rikkokushi}}

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Category:History books about Japan

Category:Old Japanese texts

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